A pair of big players will be important to watch this season for the Saints, with both starting RG Cesar Ruiz and LT Trevor Penning working back from Lisfranc injuries late in the season that required surgery.
Ruiz suffered his injury on the final offensive play during a win over the Atlanta Falcons in Week 15, while Penning suffered his in the season finale against the Panthers.
Allen said he expects both players to be healthy and full participants at some point in training camp, and the team is hopeful one or both will be ready for the start of camp in late July.
"We’ll see how it goes as we go along and we’ll be smart with that,” Allen said.
Taysom Hill suffered a similar injury in the season-finale the previous year and was available for the start of camp, though the recovery process is likely more intensive for a lineman.
And that health is the biggest question for Penning, who also suffered a significant turf toe injury in the preseason finale, bookending the season with difficulties that highlight a real concern moving forward. That said, in the games he did get on the field, the first-round pick out of Northern Iowa quickly impressed his coaches.
Related
"The sky is the limit in terms of what he can do," Allen said. "He’s big. He’s physical. I love his play demeanor. He’s athletic for a guy of his size. And so we’re excited about the player and obviously, again, the big deal is to get him healthy and to keep him healthy.”
Speaking at LSU's pro day this week, Saints OL coach Doug Marrone agreed with that assessment, while also acknowledging the difficulty for a rookie with such a disjointed season due to injuries.
"He’s doing really well," Marrone said. "He’s in the building every day. He’s doing everything he can, as well as Cesar, who’s also coming off an injury. So they’re in there. Our trainers our doing a great job, so we’re excited for them to come back."
Penning slotted behind veteran James Hurst on the depth chart in camp, and that continued when he returned from injured reserve in Week 12. He started in the jumbo role and had a bit more put on his plate each week, culminating in his first career start in a Week 18 loss to the Panthers.
The initial injury was particularly frustrating, Marrone said, because after a slow start to his first NFL camp, the former Northern Iowa Panther really had seemed to turn a corner during joint practices with the Packers. The constant reps against an actual opponent did him good. The technique was coming along. Barely two weeks later the turf toe injury hit, requiring surgery.
Related
"We kind of just threw him in there," Marrone said. "He struggled a bit early, but then all of a sudden it started to come around, he started to do a better job and I think everybody was able to see that on film."
Despite the injury in Week 18, the reps were valuable and give Penning a target entering Year 2. One question will be how he works with a reworked staff under Marrone. Zach Strief has departed to Denver, and has been replaced by Jahri Evans, who worked last year as an intern in New Orleans. The team has also hired former Rams OL coach Kevin Carberry in an assistant role.
The former All-Pro could be a fitting hire to help Penning develop, because as players, they share an important characteristic.
"I’ve always said, you can make a player a little bit of a better finisher, but you’re not going to make him a complete finisher," Marrone said, noting that Evans was the best finisher he's ever coached.
"That has to be innate, that has to be in him. And that’s something that Trevor has. So he has all the potential in the world, and it’s up to myself, it’s up to everyone that’s around him to be able to get that out of him.”
Related
